Members of the All Progressive Party (APC) in Kwara State led by their leaders on Monday staged street protests over the declaration of candidates of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as winners of the council elections conducted in Offa Local Government Area on Saturday.
Chairmanship candidate of PDP, Olusegun Olanipekun, and the councillorship candidates of the party were declared the winners of the election on Sunday in a radio announcement said to be made by the State Electoral Commission (KWSIEC).
But the APC leaders, who claimed that the results of 12 wards of the local government collated on Saturday shortly after voting, showed their party won, immediately responded by saying they did not believe the announcement on radio was by KWSIEC.
They called on the commission to declare the results as collated on Saturday and do it in the way the law provides for it.
However, when no response seemed to come from the KWSIEC, the party members trooped to the streets of Offa and Ilorin, the state capital, to protest what they alleged as brazen robbery of their party of victory at the poll.
The protesters claimed APC won in 11 of the 12 wards, with its chairmanship candidate, Saheed Popoola, defeating his PDP opponent with a wide margin, demanded the release of official results of the election.
The protests in Ilorin were led by chieftains of APC among whom are former Chairman, Caretaker Committee of the former Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the state, Sola Iji, Campaign Director of the governorship candidate of ACN in 2011, Sa’ad Omoya, Iyiola Oyedepo, Mohammed Dele Belgore’s running mate, Joshua Adeyinka, Rev Bunmi Olusona.
The rally commenced around 10.am at the former Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) office, Offa Road, Ilorin, while the protesters marched through Offa Road, Flower Garden Area, before heading for the KWSIEC headquarters on Fate Road where heavily armed anti-riot policemen with their Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) mounted security at the gate.
Inscriptions in some of their placards read: ‘We want out to collect our mandate’; ‘We demand for justice’; ‘Yio le koko lote yi’; ‘Ajidagba is playing with death’; ‘All we are saying, give us our mandate’; ‘Ajidagba, ole, Barawo, thief.’
Speaking with reporters, Iji said the protesters had come to the KWSIEC headquarters to register their rejection of the results.
He said: “If you have been following events of Saturday up till yesterday (Sunday) and this morning (Monday), you will discover that the local government election that was held in Offa, Offa local government area of the state on Saturday; the results were announced at the polling units; the results were collated in all the 12 wards.
“And we approached the local government collation centres where we expected that the results collated at the wards would be collated for final announcement of the winner of the election.
“Unfortunately, the Returning Officer who is the Local Government Electoral Officer of the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC) just disappeared.
He absconded and we waited there till about 10.pm before the materials were moved to the headquarters of KWSIEC here in Ilorin that night.
newsheralddotme 